Hi everyone! Happy Fourth of July! I hope your week is going well so far! I have been busy with work and school. I’m working part time this summer in my district’s extended school year (ESY) program and I’m also taking three graduate courses. In addition to that, I was in a wedding this weekend for one of my best friends, so last week and this week have been pretty chaotic so far. I did get the second recipe in my smoothie bowl series created and photographed last weekend, so I’m happy to share that with you today.

Here is the recipe for a Banana Split Smoothie Bowl! I am honestly in love with this bowl. It tastes so indulgent, but it’s made with ingredients that are wholesome and good for you. It starts out with a banana vanilla protein shake base and then it’s topped with fresh pineapple, fresh strawberries, walnuts, and cacao nibs. I finished it off with one fresh cherry so that it truly looks like a banana split.

Don’t be scared off by the amount of sugar in this bowl. It’s all natural and comes from the fruit. Don’t forget that not all sugar is bad for you! The next two bowls in my smoothie bowl series are frozen cauliflower (!!!) based, not banana-based, so if you’re concerned about sugar (or simply don’t like bananas), be on the lookout for those recipes.

Directions:
Combine frozen banana, almond milk, and protein powder in a high-powered blender and process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and top with pineapple, strawberries, cacao nibs, and walnuts. Serve immediately.

Happy first day of Summer! To kick off the season, I’m starting a four-part Smoothie Bowl series on Busy Girl Healthy World. I love whipping up a quick, healthy, COLD smoothie bowl after a workout to give my body the nutrients it craves while simultaneously hydrating and cooling me down. Smoothie bowls make great breakfasts or lunches. I have been eating this Chocolate Cherry Smoothie Bowl for lunch for the past three days in a row (it’s that good!) after my workout. If you would like to enjoy it as a snack instead of a meal, you can reduce the measurements of the toppings by half to keep it a little lighter.

Summer also means cherry season. We all know that fresh cherries are absolutely delicious, but cherries are also known to reduce inflammation in the body, which helps to ward off cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. This smoothie contains a serving of cherries, along with plant-based protein, banana, chia seeds, hemp seeds, raw cacao, and unsweetened flaked coconut. Chocolate Cherry Smoothie Bowls are vegan, gluten free, dairy free, and nut free—so everyone can enjoy one, regardless of dietary restrictions.

If you make this Chocolate Cherry Smoothie Bowl, let me know how you like it by leaving a comment on this post. Make sure you are following Busy Girl Healthy World on Instagram for more healthy recipe ideas!

Pasta salad is such a summer staple. It’s perfect for an easy lunch or a side dish for dinner. We grow basil every summer, so we always have a ton to use up. Caprese salad is one of our go-to recipes. I used caprese as the inspiration behind this Tomato & Mozzarella Pasta Salad. The idea is not innovative, but the ingredients I used are MUCH healthier than any heavily dressed or creamy pasta salad: high protein LENTIL pasta and greens.

I started out the basics: fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil. I used red lentil pasta as the base of this pasta salad to ramp up the protein content while at the same time, making it gluten-free so that people with a wide range of dietary needs can enjoy it. I used Ancient Harvest Pow! Red Lentil Rotini, but I also recommend Trader Joe’s Red Lentil Pasta. I also added some fresh spinach to include more vegetables and enhance the nutritional content. Finally, I dressed it very simply using a few tablespoons of store-bought pesto. I also linked to one of my favorite homemade pesto recipes if you prefer to use homemade. This is BUSY girl, healthy world—which means I don’t always have time for that (and I know a lot of you don’t either!).

I LOVE that pasta salads are meal-prep friendly. You can make the recipe on a Sunday night and have it ready to go for lunch all week. With 26 grams of protein per serving, this truly is a pasta salad you can feel great about eating! If you make this Tomato & Mozzarella Pasta Salad with lentil pasta, let me know by leaving a comment. Make sure you are following on Instagram for more healthy food and lifestyle inspiration.

Directions:Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool.
Transfer the pasta to a large bowl and add the halved cherry tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and pesto. Toss to coat.
Stir in the chopped spinach and chiffonade basil.
Serve immediately or store in an air-tight container for up to five days.

Before I get into this recipe, I have some explaining to do. This has been my longest absence from Busy Girl Healthy World since I started this blog two years ago. Let me just start by saying that my Busy Girl life got infinitely busier over the last month or so. As you know, I work as a speech-language pathologist for a public school district in PA. We added a new Autistic Support program this year in my building that added to my already full caseload and I have been crazy busy at work all year. Well, if any of you work in education you know that springtime is IEP season and I’ve been swamped with evaluation reports and meetings. Each night when I get home I just don’t have the time to write posts, and the weekends have been filled with events so I haven’t had many opportunities to develop and photograph recipes. On top of all of that, I just began pursuing a second master’s degree (this time in Education) so I have been preparing for that program to begin next week.

This summer, I will be working part-time and taking three graduate courses. I’m hoping I will still have time to develop recipes, because I truly love it. Be patient with me! I am always posting on Instagram and sharing recipes from other bloggers that I’m currently making and loving and I will continue to do that on a daily basis. You just may not see as many original recipes posted here, but I will do my best!

NOW, on to the recipe. This Super Green Vegetable Frittata is everything.

Frittatas have been my go-to weekend breakfast lately. I love how I can throw them in the oven and let them bake while I do other things around the house. This recipe also makes multiple servings, and leftovers are great for heating up in the microwave for busy weekday mornings.

This Super Green Vegetable Frittata was inspired by the Spring Scramble from the Tone It Up nutrition plan. I loved how the scramble had leeks and broccoli in it—two veggies I don’t normally put in my scrambles. I decided to add a few more green veggies (zucchini, green bell pepper, and spinach) to my frittata as well as whole eggs, egg whites, and a little bit of white cheddar cheese. The frittata is filled with protein and so many nutrients from all of the green vegetables.

The frittata is delicious as is, but I also served it with a spoonful of fresh salsa and that was really fresh and enjoyable as well. It’s also great with a slice of Ezekiel toast or an English muffin. If you make this Super Green Vegetable Frittata, let me know how you like it in the comments or take a photo and tag me on Instagram!

Directions:Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray and set aside*.Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the leeks, bell pepper, and spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened (about 5 minutes). Add the spinach.
Off the heat and transfer the vegetables into the prepared pie plate. Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on top of the veggies.
In a small bowl, wisk together 3 whole eggs and 4 additional egg whites (set aside yolks for another purpose). Season with the salt and pepper.
Pour the eggs into the pie plate evenly over the veggie and cheese. Use a spoon to incorporate the eggs a bit.
Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until the center is set and edges begin to brown. Cut into 6 slices and serve. Leftovers keep in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to four days.

*You can also make this dish in an oven-safe skillet instead of using a pan + pie plate

When I was a teenager, my favorite fast food restaurant was Wendy’s. At the time, I didn’t really care about getting something “healthy,” but I still gravitated towards the salads just because I’ve always liked them. One of my favorite salads to get was a one that had grilled chicken, mandarin oranges, and some kind of fried crunchy noodle stuff that went on top. I honestly don’t remember if it had any other vegetables in it besides the lettuce. Well, I ate that salad so often that after a while, I didn’t even want to look at another salad with mandarin oranges in it.

Now, years later, I have rediscovered how amazing mandarin oranges are in salad and I created my own (WAY HEALTHIER, WAY MORE COLORFUL) copy-cat version of that fast food salad I loved so much.

My version has romaine lettuce, red bell pepper, carrots, purple cabbage, cucumber, mandarin oranges, and peanuts. I topped it all off with an easy sweet ginger vinaigrette that is made with six simple ingredients. It has that perfect ratio of savory to sweet that my taste buds crave.

For all of my girls out there who are doing the Tone It Up Bikini Series- this salad is perfect for M3 (lunch) or M5 (dinner). If you’re looking to up the protein content, feel free to add some tofu or grilled chicken to the salad.

Directions:For the Rainbow Salad: combine all salad ingredients in a large salad bowl.For the Sweet Ginger Vinaigrette: put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to four days.

*For meal prep, divide salad ingredients between four containers. Add 1/4 of the dressing to each serving when you’re ready to eat it.

About

I am just a girl trying to eat healthy and stay active in the busy world we all live in. Through this blog, I’m hoping to show people that leading a healthy lifestyle can be easy to achieve and easy to maintain.